Why did the ancient egyptians save their organs after death?

Question

In history class we were wondering about this, and the teacher said somebody could look it up if they wanted.

Answer 1

Egyptians believed that the soul split in two. Part of the soul, the ba, would go on to the afterlife and he would need to take his organs with him--hence the reason they were extracted from the body and embalmed seperately. The other part of the soule, the ka, was to live in the tomb for eternity. The tombs of the pharoahs were so elaborate because part of their soul was going to have to "live" there forever.

Also, removal of the organs was an important step for passing into the after life because Anubis would weigh the heart of the deceassed against a feather. Only people whose hearts were as light as the feather were allowed to move into the after life.

Answer 2

There are two reasons the ancient Egyptians saved their internal organs after death.

The first reason was that in order to properly mummify the Deceased's body, the organs had to be removed to prevent rotting. It made the body easier to dry out with natron, because the abdominal cavity could be packed also. If the body was preserved and recognizable to the soul, then the Deceased could continue to live in The Field of Reeds, which is what the Egyptians called their afterlife.

The second reason is that, by magic, once the Deceased was in The Field of Reeds, his organs would be restored to him, and he could live as he had in life.

His heart was preserved and placed inside the mummy. This was because, after traveling through many dangers and traps on the way, the Deceased could arrive to be judged in front of the god of the Underworld, Osiris. The god Anubis placed the Deceased's heart on the Scales of Truth and weighed it against the Feather of Ma'at (goddess of Right Order). If a good life had been lived, the scale balanced and the Deceased would proceed to continue his life in The Field of Reeds. If the Deceased had lived a corrupt life, then the scale would not balance and the Deceased's heart would be eaten by a terrible creature called The Destroyer, a beast that was half lion and half crocodile. Once the heart was eaten, the Deceased died a second time, this time in the afterlife.

The bottom line is: They did it in order to be whole in the Afterlife.

Answer 3

The egyptians stongly believed in the travels to the Afterlife. Each Deities mythology led to important roles in the funerary assemlage,particularly in association with the cantainers now traditionaly called Canopic Jars in which the internal organs of the deceased were preserved. At first the stoppers of these jars were often carved into the shape of human heads representing the head of the deceased, but from the 18th Dynasty they were carved in the form of the four sons of Horus who had become the parton deities of their contents. Each Deity was in turn said to be guarded by one of the funerary goddesses, though there was some variation in this linkage. The group may have been baced on the symbolic completeness of the number four alone (The Regional Group) The four gods were the human-headed Imsety who guarded the liver(and who was himself guarded dy Isis) The baboon-headed Hapy who was guarded the lungs(protected by (Nephthys) The jackal-headed Duamutef who guarded the stomach (protected by Neith) The falcon-headed Qebesenuef, guardian of the intestines (protected by Seret). Isis Orientation of the south. Neith Orientation of the East. Nephthys Orientation of the North. Serket Orientation of the West.
It was very important to the KA (priests) to make sure the deity was fully propered for the journey into the afterlife which was given. It was very important to make sure that the deceased had all his property, such as food ,drinks, stones, pottery vessals, furniture, tools,weapons,clothing, cosmetics,jewellery,musical instuments,boardgames, and the most important thing the Organs. It was said to believe that the magical spells were casted over them to protect them, proven in the tombs which they were buried. It is known today to still be true............

Answer 4

it was a way of preservation for the afterlife, the organs were removed from the body because of the process of embalming, yet the organs were a major part of the persons journey that they were saved because they essentially are him. they were put in canopic jars to be preserved for him..

Answer 5

They loved themselves enough to let others have the same pleasure or inspiration to do the same. " Love me now and after death"